Althouse: "With thick layers of ice and snow still plaguing curbs and gutters in Madison, city officials are asking for residents’ help in clearing thousands of storm sewer inlets in anticipation of rain Saturday."

March 9, 2019

"With thick layers of ice and snow still plaguing curbs and gutters in Madison, city officials are asking for residents’ help in clearing thousands of storm sewer inlets in anticipation of rain Saturday."

"Temperatures are expected to climb to the upper 30s on Saturday as well, hastening the spring melt and adding more water to the rain. The city has about 20,000 storm drain inlets. Many were opened two weeks ago when similar weather conditions hit the city, but city crews weren’t able to get to every drain. 'We still need the help of residents so water can reach those storm drains,' Mayor Paul Soglin said Friday. 'Let’s work together to make a concerted effort to help city staff and clear the storm drain inlets in your neighborhood.'"

I know a lot of my readers are here in Madison. If you are physically able, have you adopted at least one drain? It would be great to get out there this morning — before all the rain (and the subsequent overnight freezing) — and dig the snow away from the drains.

49 comments:

Narayanan said...: Photos of before and after adoption?!; 3/9/19, 7:02 AM
David Begley said...: You pay $18kin taxes and have to unblock the storm drain outlets? In Omaha, we call the Mayor’s hotline.; 3/9/19, 7:02 AM
rhhardin said...: And one for the little boy who lives down the drain.; 3/9/19, 7:09 AM
Meade said...: "And one for the little boy who lives down the drain."

LOL; 3/9/19, 7:15 AM
AllenS said...: Hopefully, none of the citizen volunteers will be hit by cars as they clean out the storm drain inlets.; 3/9/19, 7:16 AM
Meade said...: " have you adopted at least one drain?"

I've adopted 2! Rescue drains. Can I keep them? Can I?; 3/9/19, 7:17 AM
paminwi said...: I guess to be a good citizens clear a drain.
But don't forget to shovel out the fire hydrant in your neighborhood. THAT could save a life!; 3/9/19, 7:17 AM
JML said...: While you are at it, fill in a couple of pot holes, and check out the suspicious person complaint in your neighborhood the MPD received.; 3/9/19, 7:23 AM
SteveBrooklineMA said...: I’ll look around for avdrain near me, but honestly I’m more concerned about the ice on my roof and in my gutters.; 3/9/19, 7:30 AM
gilbar said...: isn't all this a job for the state? As Socialists, WHY should we have to lift a finger to help? IF THE RICH WOULD JUST DO THEIR FAIR SHARE, none of the rest of us would have to contribute ANYTHING.; 3/9/19, 7:35 AM
Wince said...: I'd say that a job for all government employees retired before 60.

You can put that request in their next tax free retirement check before mailing it to Florida.; 3/9/19, 7:36 AM
Otto said...: Isn't socialism great.; 3/9/19, 7:39 AM
Ralph L said...: Could someone sue the City if injured working on public drains at their behest?
They should give out free flamethrowers to save some backs.; 3/9/19, 7:45 AM
Phil 314 said...: Will I get a six pack of LaCroix if I do?; 3/9/19, 7:48 AM
Phil 314 said...: For some reason I heard this in my head:

Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
The hammer of the gods; 3/9/19, 7:50 AM
Meade said...: "Will I get a six pack of LaCroix if I do?"

No, but you won't get a six pack if you don't.; 3/9/19, 7:58 AM
Ralph L said...: The kitten Immigrant video doesn't seem to be available anymore due to copyrights. I suspect the band realized that it couldn't be unseen.; 3/9/19, 8:01 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Maybe they would get adopted quicker if they named the drains after Democratic presidential candidates.; 3/9/19, 8:20 AM
Rusty said...: Wait. What? Are steet and sans paying you? You'd think for 17 grand a year there would be a cadre of city employees doing that. I'd demand an adjustment to my prop. taxes.; 3/9/19, 8:23 AM
Rusty said...: street.; 3/9/19, 8:24 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: Do the union workers approve of this?

Shouldn't folks over 40 have an approval note from their cardiologist?

Will the city pay for the chiropractic costs citizens will rack up? Is the city liable?

Why is the city so far behind in their duties? Did anyone consider giving administrative employees a shovel? Did the forestry workers shovel snow, or did they decide to sit around until the snow melts and they can trim trees?; 3/9/19, 8:25 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: "Maybe they would get adopted quicker if they named the drains after Democratic presidential candidates."

There are not enough drains for that idea.; 3/9/19, 8:27 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: Perhaps there are America-loving illegal immigrants who will volunteer? Or welfare recipients who want to give something back?

Seriously, buy a couple of kegs of beer and the college kids will do the work. Two beers per drain.; 3/9/19, 8:34 AM
Anne in Rockwall, TX said...: Do they float down there?; 3/9/19, 8:34 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Do the union workers approve of this?

This is a serious issue in the LA LA LAND of Socialist California.

A City nearby (100 miles away. That is near for us) had a group of concerned citizens who wanted to clean out a small drainage canal/ditch that the City was neglecting. They also wanted to clear some of the overgrown underbrush near it so that the vermin(homeless) would not congregate at the backs of their properties.

The plugged ditch caused flooding almost every year and had been a source of complaints for years. The homeless were/are a long standing crime and public health issue. Y'all want human poop, trash, needles being strewn all around your property and then carried into your yards by flood waters?

All volunteers, using their own tools and equipment. Much of the underbrush had actually spread to be ON their own properties.

The City UNION workers threw a giant hissy fit. How dare you do for free what we get paid to do...but aren't doing. Wah! You are taking the bread from the mouths of our children. The pampered babies....I mean Union workers won. NO work was done by the city.; 3/9/19, 8:39 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: I was told there wouldn't be any snow any more, and the models are always right, ergo there is no snow.

The lack of imagination is criminal.; 3/9/19, 8:47 AM
Francisco D said...: How did Madison get to be one of the most livable cities in America?

Here in Tucson (#99 on the list) we hit 80 degrees the other day. Now we are having a cold front where temps will dip into the 40s' overnight.

And it's almost always sunny here.

The mountains are magnificent.

We have greenery and flowers all year long.

If we could just get rid of those damned snowbirds.; 3/9/19, 9:01 AM
gilbar said...: Phil 3:14 said... For some reason I heard this in my head:

Phil pi, i've heard that song Most of my life, and, until today; i'd Always thought it was
'with the midnight sun, and the hot springs below'

I actually went to references to see (on account of because of the fact i thought you were wrong); and saw that All these years, i'd heard it wrong: Now, i like the song Even less

ps (references say it's Flow, not Blow; both of which are stupidly stupid compared to below); 3/9/19, 9:12 AM
gilbar said...: Francisco D said...
How did Madison get to be one of the most livable cities in America?
Here in Tucson

yeah? well, here in the midwest we don't have completely dry dips in the road with Big Signs saying:
DANGER FLASH FLOODING!
Our water stays around, so it doesn't surprise us. AND! we don't name our main roads after nonexistent Speedways; 3/9/19, 9:16 AM
Mark said...: Time was when you didn't need government to ask people to do these things.

Before the Age of Entitlement and It's Not My Job, people just did these things (and many others) on their own to be good neighbors.; 3/9/19, 9:39 AM
Big Mike said...: I’ve been doing this as a matter of course for a quarter century. There’s been a curbside storm drain next to my driveway both here and and at our previous house. As soon as I clear my walks and driveway, I open up the drain. Doesn’t take much — as soon as meltwater starts running down the street it helps open the drain the rest of the way.; 3/9/19, 9:47 AM
Mark said...: Many people -- conservatives and folks in middle America -- realize that you can't count on the government for anything. So they do it themselves. Often times, in fact, it is better when the government just gets the hell out of the way.; 3/9/19, 9:54 AM
Charlie Currie said...: Well, this what you get when government employee unions and misspent tax dollars collide.; 3/9/19, 10:05 AM
Wilbur said...: AA: "It would be great to get out there this morning — before all the rain (and the subsequent overnight freezing) — and dig the snow away from the drains. "

A laudable sentiment and suggestion indeed. I suspect, though, that the problem wouldn't be the snow covering the drains; rather it's the leaves and debris under the snow which impede watery access to the drain.; 3/9/19, 10:09 AM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Working together”? Smacks of socialism!; 3/9/19, 11:01 AM
Meade said...: “Working together”? Smacks of socialism!

It does when it sounds like, "You VILL vork together. Ve vill MAKE you vork together!"; 3/9/19, 11:16 AM
Patrick said...: I don't have a drain nearby but I do make certainthe fire hydrant is accessible. Another 6 - 10 inches coming today up here in MN. The charm has worn off.; 3/9/19, 11:21 AM
stlcdr said...: Waiting for the government to tell you what todo - comrade. Ready to spring into action!; 3/9/19, 11:39 AM
Francisco D said...: yeah? well, here in the midwest we don't have completely dry dips in the road with Big Signs saying:
DANGER FLASH FLOODING!

Yes. That is true. Luckily we have a Stupid Motorist law (actual name of the law) for people who ignore those signs.

I grew up in the Midwest and only moved to AZ last summer. I prefer it to the frustration of Midwest "Springs."; 3/9/19, 11:40 AM
Bill Peschel said...: A few years ago, Hershey was hit by one of the big hurricanes. The drains were still clogged with debris, and a low-lying area near our house flooded up to the ceiling of the first floor.

There were people in the sports bar who moved up to the second floor, wondering if they're going to have to get onto the roof. If they had drowned, they would have done so within a hundred yards of land.

Clearing a drain of leaf debris takes maybe five minutes, although in Madison the layer of snow and ice will make it tougher.

Side rant: People don't understand that a) the government cannot stockpile employees and materials that they may use a couple times in a decade, and b) it takes time to organize and move men and equipment and rescue supplies around.

This is why we're advised to have three days food and water on hand in hurricane zones.

Considering several decades ago help arrived much slower, we're really, really soft as a people.; 3/9/19, 11:44 AM
stlcdr said...: Inga...Allie Oop said...
“Working together”? Smacks of socialism!

It sounds like the Mental Special Olympics has a stray competitor.; 3/9/19, 11:46 AM
Maillard Reactionary said...: I tried to adopt a storm drain but they wouldn't let me.

Maybe it was the washing machine with the tree growing out of it in the front yard.; 3/9/19, 12:40 PM
Howard said...: I cut a channel through the ice to a catch basin this last month visiting Boston. In mold Nor Cal neighborhood, a bunch of us would clean all the culverts and catch basin prior to big storms; 3/9/19, 12:57 PM
Mark said...: Here is Arlington, the Smart People, not wanting debris to go into the storm drains and hence to the waterways they are connected to, put sand bag filters over the storm drains. They keep the garbage out, sure. And water does seep through -- slowly. But while the water is trickling through, it is also pooling up on the roadways up to flood level.; 3/9/19, 1:44 PM
Mark said...: These are the same officials who hire their crony contractors that more often than not slope the road surface away from the storm drain when repaving.; 3/9/19, 1:47 PM
Mark said...: The same Arlington regime that wants to raise our property taxes six percent after giving our Amazon Overlords a bunch of financial breaks.; 3/9/19, 1:48 PM
Drago said...: Inga: "“Working together”? Smacks of socialism!"

Looks like our History Began This Morning/Hoax Dossier Gal has never even heard of de Tocqueville, much less read him and understood the lessons of the American spirit and attitudes.

Day Ending in "Y"; 3/9/19, 3:32 PM
Crazy World said...: Stormy weather here in Hawaii, global cooling if you will partake.; 3/10/19, 12:42 AM
Rusty said...: Blogger Mark said...
"Time was when you didn't need government to ask people to do these things.

Before the Age of Entitlement and It's Not My Job, people just did these things (and many others) on their own to be good neighbors."

We still do. Despite my wise ass comment above, The storm drain is in front of my house and as a matter of course I keep it clear of debris. It rarely takes more than a few swipes of my boot or a minute or two with a shovel. It is purely selfish
though. My driveway will be the first to be flooded if I don't.; 3/10/19, 7:07 AM